Last checked at 
By Clara Denina
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings has hired U.S.
investment bank Lazard Ltd to sell its French retail
business, a source close to the matter told Reuters, as part of
a plan by new interim chief executive Noel Quinn to reduce costs
across the banking group.
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank by assets, has carried
out a strategic review of the French retail business, which has
around 270 branches and employs up to 3,000 staff out of 8,000
in France overall.
The business could be worth about 1 billion euros ($1.1
billion), analysts and bankers estimated.
An auction process was expected to kick off in the coming
weeks, when confidential information packages would be
circulated to potential buyers to undertake due diligence checks
on the business, the source said.
Lazard declined to comment.
Quinn, who became interim CEO in August after the bank
announced the surprise departure of John Flint, has between six
to 12 months from that date to make his case for the permanent
role, so he is expected to move quickly to try and improve HSBC
returns, which have been hit by an economic slowdown in China.
The French sale is complicated by a general fall in
profitability for retail banking among European banks, as low
interest rates have constrained returns, banking sources said.
Lazard was expected to sound out French banks, including BNP
Paribas, Credit Mutuel and Societe Generale,
these sources said, adding that talks would be tough as local
banks were in no rush to bulk up their local presence.
HSBC, which makes most of its profits in Asia, said in
August it would be laying off about 4,000 people this year.
Its business outlook has deteriorated due to an escalation
of the trade war between China and the United States, an easing
monetary policy cycle, unrest in its key Hong Kong market and
Britain's plan to leave the European Union.
HSBC has been present in France, its biggest hub in
continental Europe, since 2000 when it bought Credit Commerciale
de France (CCF) for about 11 billion euros.
($1 = 0.9082 euros)
(Additional reporting by Maya Nikolaeva in Paris and Pamela
Barbaglia in London; Editing by Edmund Blair)
